


after all, it's speculation

by blurrychildren (roadsider)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Frat Boy Niall, M/M, frat party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 13:25:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2694683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roadsider/pseuds/blurrychildren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not that Zayn doesn't do parties, per se. He's not completely antisocial. But there's this one particular group of people that he tries his very best to avoid, especially in party situations.</p><p>Fratbros. God help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	after all, it's speculation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [artofobsession](https://archiveofourown.org/users/artofobsession/gifts).



> if you haven't written 1d in over a year and a half clap your hands *clap clap*
> 
> written for a prompt meme thing on tumblr, [here](http://walshings.tumblr.com/post/103964365007/ziall-are-you-flirting-with-me-xx)
> 
> this fic should've been titled no hetero, tbh

It's not that Zayn doesn't do parties, per se. 

Like, he's not completely antisocial. He's worked at a pub for a year and a half, he's perfectly comfortable making casual conversation with people he doesn't know-and-or-care about. Sure, he's not an extrovert by any means, but he's got his group of friends and spends a pretty standard amount of time in gathering-type situations. 

Hell, sometimes there's even booze and weed and blaring music involved. It's not like his friends are the quietest of people, and he likes them well enough most of the time, though there are days when he wouldn't mind punching some of them in the face.

And speaking of punching Louis in the face, it's completely his fault that Zayn's here right now. Because it's not that Zayn doesn't do parties, _per se_ , but there's this one particular group of people that he tries his very best to avoid, especially in party situations.

Fratbros. God help him. 

The house reeks disgustingly of alcohol. Zayn can already taste cheap beer at the back of his mouth. 

"So we're staying here for how long, exactly?" he asks as they step inside, raising his voice over the music. Harry'd disappeared the moment they crossed the threshold, so Zayn has no choice but to follow Louis down a hallway, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Don't be an asshole," Louis scolds, scanning the crowd twice before grabbing Zayn's arm and pulling him up a flight of stairs. The landing's crowded, and Zayn quickly disentangles himself from Louis' tight grip.  


Not that personal space is a viable option here. He cringes away from a redheaded girl puking against the wall.  


Louis thwacks him on the arm, eyes narrowed. 

"I said, don't be an asshole."

Zayn sputters. "What did I even do?"

But Louis' not paying attention anymore, apparently having spotted whoever he was looking for downstairs.

"How am I an asshole for not wanting vomit on my Docs?" he gripes to himself as he trails after his complete dickhead of a best friend.

As it turns out, the guy Louis had been looking for is the epitome of frat bro. Wonderful. Green snapback, on backwards of course, messy blondish hair, shorts with a pair of sunglasses hooked in one pocket --which, seriously, they're indoors and it's past ten p.m.--, and a tank top cut so low that his nipple peeks out as he waves at them.

"Lou!" the guy yells, and he and Louis do this manly half-hug back-slap thing that has Zayn stepping a bit further away instantly. He's not really one for that kind of no-homo affection. Credit where it's due, the frat guy seems to pick up on it and salutes Zayn with his drink instead.

"Hey man, I'm Niall."

"Zayn," Zayn offers, eyes flicking down involuntarily to where Niall's shirt has slipped to the side again.

Louis' going on about how he and Niall met, something about an open mic night, but Zayn's still busy trailing his eyes over Niall's pecs, his biceps, and that patch of sparse but soft-looking chest hair. When he drags his eyes back up --Louis' still talking-- he looks straight into Niall's eyes and jerks a little at being caught staring.

He flushes and looks away. 

"…and that's how Niall's laundry basket ended up on the roof," Louis finishes, laughing at his own story as Niall joins in. Zayn manages a grin, eyes trained somewhere over Niall's shoulder.

"Anyway," Louis says, pressing a palm to Zayn's back. "I've wanted to introduce the two of you for ages, so you should get acquainted. Yo! Liam!"  
And with that he's gone, slipping into the crowd of heaving bodies. Leaving Zayn completely alone. 

He slides his gaze over to Niall, who's positively beaming, red solo cup in hand.

"Uh," Zayn stutters, startled by the apparently genuine friendliness on this guy's face. Maybe he hadn't noticed Zayn checking him out, after all? Zayn feels a bit of tension ease from his shoulders. Maybe he won't have to put up with straight guys feeling threatened by his decidedly non-heterosexuality, after all.

"So, what are you studying?"

***

Talking to Niall is surprisingly not awful. Zayn's a little shocked that Niall hadn't ditched him five minutes in, but the guy seems like a pretty decent person and to Zayn's immense surprise, the two of them get along. 

They end up migrating to a quieter area, a couple of couches in front of a large window. The redhead Zayn had seen puking on the stairs is sitting across from them, her head in her friend's lap as she strokes her hair. Zayn eyes them warily, but the friend just shoots him a dimpled smile, and that seems to be that.

The noise from the party is not as obtrusive here, and there are only ten people in the room at most. Zayn stretches languidly, only jolting a little when his thigh comes to rest pressed against Niall's.

Instead of moving away, Niall drops a hand onto Zayn's knee. Niall is, apparently, a tactile person.

"You know," Zayn says, fiddling with the bracelets on his wrist. "I didn't think I'd make it this long without getting completely wasted."

Niall's laugh is loud and unashamed. "Not a party kinda guy?"

"Not really." Zayn's eyes flick up, then back down. "I guess I just don't really enjoy all the noise and chaos."

"Most people don't, honestly," Niall says, fingers briefly squeezing Zayn's leg. It's a comforting gesture, and Zayn wasn't even aware he needed comforting, but it's nice. "I usually end up pretty drunk a couple hours in, too. That's mostly the point of these things, though. They're not fun unless you're pretty fucked up."

Zayn grins, and Niall grins back, lifting his hand to put it on the back of the couch behind Zayn's shoulders.

"Speaking of, do you wanna refill your drink?" Zayn asks, nodding at the half-empty cup still in Niall's hand.

Niall glances down at it, tapping at the rim with a considering look on his face. 

"Nah, this shit's pretty gross anyway."

"You guys probably water it down a ton, right?"

"Right," Niall laughs. 

There's a brief pause, and then he says, "I've got some good beer upstairs though."

"What's upstairs?" 

"Bedrooms," Niall shrugs, and Zayn's glance darts once again to the sliver of dark nipple at the seam of Niall's shirt. "My room."

"Oh, cool," Zayn says absently, trying not to stare.

"We could go upstairs and like, hang out."

Zayn hums, trailing his gaze around the room, at the dark-haired girl with her friend sprawled over her lap. And then it clicks, and he feels his brows shoot up. Wait.

"Wait. Are you flirting with me?" he asks, feels his own face heat up at his bluntness.

Niall freezes, solo cup halfway to his lips, then laughs, throws back the gross, watered-down dregs of his drink, and shrugs. 

Zayn grinning along helplessly, then blinks.

"Wait. Really?"

"Yeah, dude," Niall says with another shrug, setting his cup down by the foot of the couch. "Why do you sound so incredulous?"

"First off, I can't believe one of Louis' friends just used a word over three syllables," Zayn says, kicking at Niall's legs. Niall catches his foot between his calves and Zayn can't help the twitch of his lips.

"Second?" Niall prompts.

"Second," Zayn continues, feeling his ears grow hot. "Second, where's the famous fratboy no-homo attitude?"

Something terrible dawns on him then, and his jaw drops a little in horror. "Oh my god, did Louis set this up? Is this a prank? I'm gonna kill him, how many times have I told him that his sense of humour is not funny, oh my fucking--"

"Zayn," Niall cuts him off laughing. "It's not a prank, calm down. I'm into you, yeah?

"Really?"

"Yeah, really," Niall grins. 

Zayn lets out a relieved huff of air and meets Niall's eyes, warm and sparkling with mirth.

"And the no-homo fratboy thing," Niall continues, grin widening all the while. "I won't say it doesn't happen at all, but more than half of the guys are bi or at least questioning. Dude, your preconceptions are a little outdated."

"Preconceptions, huh?" Zayn raises an impressed eyebrow, then snorts. "I dunno, you did try to seduce me with beer of all things."

Niall throws his head back when he laughs, and Zayn becomes intensely aware of how much he wants to bite at that soft-looking expanse of pale skin. 

He only hesitates briefly before he reaches out to cup the boy's cheek. Niall stills instantly, blue eyes meeting Zayn's, and Zayn can't help brushing a thumb over his cheekbone as his fingers slide up into his hair. Niall's eyes flutter closed for a brief moment, and then he's slinging his leg over Zayn's.

"This okay?" he asks as he lowers himself into Zayn's lap, eyes dark, and Zayn can only nod and swallow hard.

He's trembling slightly so he slides his hands up Niall's back to calm himself, which only works until their eyes lock again and then Niall's leaning down, his breath ghosting gently over Zayn's cheek and then his lips. They're so close that Zayn can feel the heat from Niall's blush on his own; can feel Niall's eyelashes brush the bridge of his nose; can feel the tension of that couple of millimetres of air that separates their lips.

And then Niall's bottom lip catches on Zayn's and they're kissing, Zayn unable to help the hungry little intake of air as Niall's lips open under his, his hot tongue licking into his mouth.

"Wanna go upstairs?" Niall pants out a while later, both hands gripping Zayn's hair.

"Sure," Zayn says, smearing the word against the skin of Niall's throat before it really sinks in. His eyes fly open and he swallows hard. He should-- he should be rational about this. He's not good at this. This has bitten him in the ass before. He breathes out slowly. "But I'm not putting out tonight."

"That's fine, man," Niall says with a soft laugh, carding his fingers through Zayn's hair and tilting his head up to drop another kiss onto his lips. "This is okay, though?"

"Yeah, this is okay," Zayn murmurs. 

"Upstairs?"

"Okay."

They disentangle slowly, fingertips trailing over random bits of skin. 

As Zayn stands up, he nearly trips over the dimpled brunette's legs, the one who's still sitting there with the redhead friend slumped over her knees.

Niall steadies him, arm around his waist, then grins and steps away, reaching out his hand. Zayn just stares at him for a moment before Niall half rolls his eyes and grabs Zayn's hand in his own, tangling their fingers together. Feeling dazed, Zayn glances back at the girl (who flashes him a grin and a thumbs-up) before Niall's dragging him away, passing through a more crowded part of the house to climb another flight of stairs.

And this-- this isn't no-homo behaviour, the hand holding and the gentleness and the open way Niall exists. It's-- Zayn's had his share of shitty experiences, and it's made him want to be really fucking careful, protect himself from things that have the potential to hurt him. But for some reason, this feels okay. This feels safe, the way Niall keeps glancing at him with a small, bright, almost shy smile. So Zayn squeezes Niall's fingers, and pulls himself closer to Niall.

Zayn waits until they've gotten to Niall's bedroom before pushing him up against the door and draping himself against Niall's back, biting at his earlobe and grinding his hips into his ass. He doesn't wait for more than a breathy _fuck_ from Niall before shoving his hand under that damn tank top, skating his palm around Niall's waist and up his chest to tweak at his nipple.

Niall goes pliant with a strangled moan and Zayn hums, satisfied. He kisses a sloppy line up Niall's neck to the hinge of his jaw.

"This okay?" he asks, voice low and already sex-rough.

"Yeah," Niall gasps, cheeks blotchy red as he tilts his head back onto Zayn's shoulder. Zayn tilts his chin for a sloppy kiss, before hiking Niall's ass a little higher and biting at his neck. 

Niall shudders. "I thought you said you weren't putting out?"

Zayn drags his nose behind Niall's ear. 

"Well, dude," he says with a smirk. "I think your preconceptions are a little outdated."

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [tumblr](http://walshings.tumblr.com) if u wanna say hi :)


End file.
